QPS Dementia Friends

Dementia Friends Info Updated 3.3.2017

On the day of the review, 80% of all pharmacy staff working in patient facing roles are trained ‘Dementia Friends’ and this includes pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensary staff, counter assistants and delivery drivers as well as any locums working in the pharmacy on the review date.

5 points per review – contractors can claim points in BOTH April and November, total points = 10

Aim/Rationale

The aim of this quality criterion is to help patient-facing pharmacy staff to learn a little more about what it is like to live with dementia and small ways we can all help people living with dementia and their carers. They can commit to turning that understanding into action in their day-to-day role in the pharmacy. These small actions by patient facing pharmacy staff throughout the whole of England will make a huge difference to the lives of those living with dementia.

Reporting

Pharmacy staff with a patient-facing role should include all registered pharmacy professionals, all pre-registration graduates, everyone working in the dispensary, all medicines counter assistants and all delivery drivers (it also includes locums). Contractors may also have other staff that can be identified as having patient-facing roles. Although it is not required for the quality payment, NHS England would encourage all pharmacy staff to become Dementia Friends.

In order to calculate the total number of staff working in patient-facing roles in the pharmacy on the day of the review (i.e. 28 April 2017 and 24 November 2017), each full or part-time member of staff working in roles listed above counts as one.

For example, if on 28 April 2017 the following staff are working at the pharmacy

One locum pharmacist – 1

One pharmacy technician – 1

Two full-time delivery drivers – 2

Two part-time medicines counter assistants – 2

In this example, the total number of patient facing staff working on the day of the review is six. Therefore at least five of those staff must have become Dementia Friends in order to meet the quality requirement.

There are a number of ways that pharmacy staff can become Dementia Friends. They may attend an information session run by a Dementia Friends Champion. Some staff may already have become Dementia Friends by attending courses or completing the registration on the Dementia Friends website.

Where staff have not yet become Dementia Friends and are not attending an information session, they are encouraged to register following the process outlined below.

Whilst staff may become Dementia Friends as individuals, they are encouraged to do so through the organisational route (as set out below) as the videos are more appropriate to patient facing roles.

How to register as a Dementia Friend

The first step for staff to become Dementia Friends is to register the pharmacy with the Dementia Friends initiative. One representative from each pharmacy should carry out the following steps:

Step 1: First, register your pharmacy on the Dementia Friends website (by clicking ‘get your organisation involved’) or by using this linkStep 2: Once you have registered, you will be sent a unique code by email within one week, which will allow you and your team access to a unique dashboard for your pharmacy. There, you can access the online Dementia Friends videos which demonstrate excellent examples of how someone in a patient facing role would help a person who may be living with dementia. The page can be accessed by clicking on ‘Get involved’ and then ‘Organisations’ on the Dementia Friends homepage;
Step 3: To access the videos, click on ‘Watch our videos for organisations’ and enter:

your unique code (this code can be shared so team members can watch the videos at different times)

the number of people who are going to watch the videos

the postcode of where you are watching the videos.

Each member of staff should watch the introductory video and at least one of the four other videos available.

the total number of staff in the pharmacy who have become a Dementia Friend

the address the badges should be sent to

Individuals (such as locums) who have not yet become a Dementia Friend can register as a Dementia Friend through the organisation route.

To register through the ‘organisation route’ individuals can:

while working in a pharmacy who have already registered on the Dementia Friends website, ask to use their unique code, and then follow the above process

OR

register as an organisation (follow the above process by using your name and the words ‘Pharmacy Locum’ e.g. ‘Jane Smith Pharmacy Locum’.

The alternative route is that LPCs or local CPPE Regional Tutors may be planning on holding a face-to-face Dementia Friends Information Sessions, so consider making contact with either of these organisations if you would like to attend a face-to-face session.

Contractors will be required to declare via the NHS BSA online declaration page that they meet this criterion. Contractors should keep evidence that staff have become Dementia Friends in the pharmacy. This could be a copy of the email sent to request PSNC have prepared a briefing document about becoming a dementia friend and meeting the QPS.

Any members of staff who are already Dementia Friends can be included in the pharmacy count, there is no need for them to become a Dementia Friend again, simply add their details to your pharmacy record sheet.

Important

Members of pharmacy teams should NOT register as individuals via the electronic route:

NB This advice changed as of Jan 27th 2017 due to Alzheimer’s UK being unable to accommodate pharmacy teams via this route as it will swamp the system. You must follow the steps for organisations as outlined above.

Q. Are part-time staff and locums included in the Quality Payment criterion ‘On the day of the review, 80% of all pharmacy staff working in patient facing roles are trained Dementia Friends?’Yes. This Quality Payment criterion applies to all pharmacy staff working in patient facing roles and this includes temporary staff, such as locum pharmacists. The number of hours a member of staff is employed for is not relevant for this Quality Payment criterion.

To meet the criterion 80% of the pharmacy team with patient facing roles must be dementia friends regardless of whether they are locums and regardless of how many hours they work – so contractors should encourage all team members and locums to become Dementia Friends.

Q. How should I record which members of my team are dementia friends?

A record sheet is available on the PSNC website which will allow contractors to keep a record of their staff members and temporary staff, such as locums, that have become Dementia Friends.

Contractors should keep a copy of any certificates/letters that staff receive once they become a Dementia Friend as evidence of compliance with this QP criterion.